Distinguished members, partners and colleagues,
Good morning, and a warm welcome to this 4th meeting of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group (STAG) on HIV, Hepatitis & STIs. A special welcome to our new STAG members—thank you for joining us, and for your commitment to this important cause.
This is my first opportunity to engage with the STAG, and I look forward to learning from your insights.
Over the past decade, our region has made impressive progress:
AIDS-related deaths have fallen by nearly 60% since 2010;
15 million people are now receiving life-saving treatment; and
All 10 countries in South-East Asia have national hepatitis elimination plans.
And, last month, Maldives became the very first country in the world to be validated for the ‘triple elimination’ of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B. This monumental achievement is a point of great pride for our entire region.
While we should rightly celebrate these achievements, we are nonetheless mindful of persistent challenges.
We are not on track to meet our 2030 targets because:
New HIV infections are declining far too slowly;
Viral hepatitis continues to claim over 350,000 lives each year; and,
STIs remain both under-detected and under-prioritized.
The gaps are greatest where the needs are the most acute: among key populations, such as adolescent girls and young people, and communities with limited-resources.
I need not remind us that our Member States have directed us to specifically focus on the health of these very groups in our Regional Roadmap for Results and Resilience.
The undeniable reality is that many countries today are under financial pressure, with shrinking external funding and competing public health demands.
Your leadership, advice and guidance at this meeting are critical, because the strategic choices we must now make will determine whether we accelerate progress or risk reversing our hard-earned gains.
Over the next three days, we will seek your guidance in two key areas.
The first is prioritization. Within HIV, hepatitis and STIs, where should countries focus their resources for the greatest impact in the next two years?
The second concerns the current Integrated Regional Action Plan. This is due to finish in 2026, and we need your assessment of whether it remains appropriate for the future. Does it require course-correction, new pillars, or any modified approaches?
As WHO, we remain deeply committed to supporting governments and partners with evidence-based, implementation-ready guidance.
As always, we offer cross-country learning, catalytic partnerships and technical stewardship—all of which are particularly important as high-burden countries recalibrate their investment decisions.
We look to you not just for technical validation, but for strategic direction. Our region needs practical, bold, and forward-looking recommendations. Only then can we ensure that progress continues, even in these constrained times.
I thank you again for your commitment to fighting HIV, hepatitis and STIs in South-East Asia.
I wish you a productive meeting, and look forward to being apprised of the outcomes.